I am fairly new to having wavey hair. Up until about three years ago, my hair was straight and super smooth. I could wash let air dry and it would would look awesomely smooth and would curl under at the bottom naturally.
I am not sure what caused the texture to change, or if it was just a combo of a lot major things! I was DX'd with Crohn's disease 11 years ago, and lived for 8 years mostly ok with a few major flares and complications.
3 years ago, I started becoming very sick.
To make a long story a little shorter.. I was put on more serious meds, immune modulators and suppressants. I had 2 bowel resections that caused complications, abcsess, fistulas, malabsorbtion causing malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiancies, etc.
I don't know exactly WHEN my hair changed, as I was pretty much too sick to notice.
However, at some point, it just refused to be straight anymore. If I wash and wear, it turns into a frizzy mess.
If I try to blow it out and use a flat iron, I can get it to be mostly straight, but this takes quite some effort.
My first problem is that it has been three years since I had a good hair cut. I have been unemployed and couldn't afford to go to a salon. I was recently approved for disability and so now I can afford a decent cut. My regular stylist has disappeared and now I need to find a new one. Scary enough, right? I also have no idea what kind of cut would be good for me. I don't want to loose a lot of length (hubby likes it long) but I need more volume. Would a few long layers be a good idea?
Also, I am intrigued with the co wash concept as the meds and malnutrition have left my skin and hair super dry, but with my hair being so fine it seems to do nothing more than weigh my hair down. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem with it? Is there any way to avoid this?

First of all, what a struggle you have been through. Wow, my heart goes out to you. Not surprising that your hair changed.
Secondly - welcome to waviness!
I think a few long layers are a good way to go. With fine hair, it's easy to over-layer and long layers avoid that.
I'm a fine-haired wavy who doesn't usually cowash because it weighs my hair down. I wash with water or with chamomile or nettle tea (or diluted shampoo) and then condition from the ears down. Sometimes the canopy get a bit more conditioner if I've been in the sun. DIluting a regular (off-the-shelf, nothing fancy) shampoo about 1-2 teaspoons in a cup of water helps prevent over-drying/damaging your hair and rinses our so much more easily. Lots of conditioner works for some, but not all. If it weighs you down, use less, or look for conditioners for fine hair or for oily hair because usually diluting a conditioner that weighs your hair down doesn't help a lot, it's the formulation that matters.
Your hair might like some protein, fine hair often does. There's a homemade recipe here:PT recipe - as promised although for dry hair you might want to avoid the magnesium sulfate and for fine hair, be careful about adding oil. Some daily-use products have protein and might be worth a try.

I hope you like your waves and learn a lot here so that you can feel there is an "up" side to all you have gone through. Don't iron those waves, they'll get frizzier and frustrated. Give them what they need and you (and your long-hair loving husband) will be very happy with your "new" hair.
Waves rock!
All the best.

PS: about giving up your favorite mousse: Don't swear it off just yet. Having products that you KNOW work and aren't terribly expensive is far better than spending time, cash, and frustration looking for new ones. At least keep in in the house for the "I need a good hair day" moments!

Thanks! I do love my waves, and I was super excited when I found this site! (And hubby loves them too...)
I never even thought of diluting the shampoo! That's a great idea.
I will check out that link, although I went out and bought a packet of aphogee 2 step PT yesterday. I was planning on doing it today but haven't felt well enough yet today.
I am very excited to learn more about how to take care of my new hair

I too have inflammatory bowel disease, and my hair did change from treatments/medication. About half my hair fell out when I started a bunch of immunomodulators, and was the worst when i was on Remicade. I was pulling out handfuls in the shower whenever i'd wash my hair and it was dull, dry, lifeless, and had barely any curl.

I'm basically in remission now, and while I have a lot less hair, it seems to be in pretty good shape. I take vitamins to make up for the nutrients I'm always missing. I think a good cut would definitely help, with some long layers. Nothing drastic. Plus you might want to find some cheap lightweight stylers to experiment with. I found that CG has helped my hair come back from being sick, so hopefully it will help you too. I feel you on all this, and I sincerely hope you're doing ok.

Welcome to the wavies.
Aphogee 2-step is stinky. Just so you are forewarned. The 2nd step has mineral oil, which makes some hair oily and weighed down. When I did the aphogee 2-step I tested a small section of my hair first. When it was completely dry, I could tell that the mineral oil in step 2 was making my hair oily. I substituted my own moisturizing conditioner for step 2 (can also substitute a deep treatment). If you like what aphogee does to your hair, be sure to try IAgirl's gelatin PT (link posted above). It is similar, crazy cheap, and works great for me.
All the stuff I use comes from sally's, drugstore, or the grocery store if you want to glance at my siggi. Ecostyler might work for you. It is a great gel with protein and bonus, it is 3-4$/tub at sally beauty supply.
I have health problems too. It sucks. I think it is a much better idea to just stay healthy.

I too have inflammatory bowel disease, and my hair did change from treatments/medication. About half my hair fell out when I started a bunch of immunomodulators, and was the worst when i was on Remicade. I was pulling out handfuls in the shower whenever i'd wash my hair and it was dull, dry, lifeless, and had barely any curl.

I'm basically in remission now, and while I have a lot less hair, it seems to be in pretty good shape. I take vitamins to make up for the nutrients I'm always missing. I think a good cut would definitely help, with some long layers. Nothing drastic. Plus you might want to find some cheap lightweight stylers to experiment with. I found that CG has helped my hair come back from being sick, so hopefully it will help you too. I feel you on all this, and I sincerely hope you're doing ok.

Originally Posted by Mountaincurl

Remicade did that to me too! And now the hair is growing back in around the crown, but it seems much coarser and curlier, and down right unruly. If I flip upside down and scrunch, it's like a mini 'fro up there.
I started taking a body, hair, skin, and nails supplement along with my various prescriptions for my more serious deficiencies. I don't know if they help much or not. My problem is that both resections were in the area of small intestine where vitamins and minerals are absorbed into the body, so while the extra certainly couldn't hurt, I am not sure enough gets absorbed to help, either. I have monthly B-12 injections, and often have to go to the ER for a potassium infusion, even though I take potassium pills daily.
I am doing a little better as of recently, due to Entocort, though I am a little scared that once I am taken off of it I will go back to how I was, just like I have every time I was put on Pred.
I know I am just really tired of LOOKING as sick as I feel! So I really hope the info I have found here will help.

Welcome to the wavies.
Aphogee 2-step is stinky. Just so you are forewarned. The 2nd step has mineral oil, which makes some hair oily and weighed down. When I did the aphogee 2-step I tested a small section of my hair first. When it was completely dry, I could tell that the mineral oil in step 2 was making my hair oily. I substituted my own moisturizing conditioner for step 2 (can also substitute a deep treatment). If you like what aphogee does to your hair, be sure to try IAgirl's gelatin PT (link posted above). It is similar, crazy cheap, and works great for me.
All the stuff I use comes from sally's, drugstore, or the grocery store if you want to glance at my siggi. Ecostyler might work for you. It is a great gel with protein and bonus, it is 3-4$/tub at sally beauty supply.
I have health problems too. It sucks. I think it is a much better idea to just stay healthy.

Originally Posted by pedaheh

Thanks
I found I actually didn't mind the smell of aphogee too much. But I am exicted to try IAgirl's recipe! I always have unflavored gelatin on hand for various reasons (homemade pore strips, homemade gel air freshener.. the list goes on!) My hair did love the protien, I didn't have a dry or rough feeling at all when I rinsed, it actually felt really smooth. It seemed to have a little more bounce, and I am wondering if my hair just needs more!
Does the Ecostyler leave the crunch? I usually don't like gel because every time I have tried it it seems too crunchy and/or heavy for me.
Speaking of gel... has anyone tried the gelatin hair gel? I know I saw a recipe somewhere.... I was thinking of finding it again and whipping some up and trying that before I buy any more products. I already have three differant kinds of mousse atm! LOL

Ecostyler does have crunch. It will scrunch out, but it dries crunchy.
If you think you need more protein, I'd say that you could do another PT. Not everyone's hair feels rough after a PT. But since your hair didn't feel rough, and you have porous, fine hair, I think another PT is worth a try. If you end up with too much protein, you just avoid protein for a while and add moisture. Most people with porous and fine hair PT about once a week, but you can do it more often if you need it.
I've never tried the gelatin gel, but I suspect that it would add a whole lot of daily protein. I think it would be too much protein for my hair.
Homemade FSG might be worth a try. It adds moisture, curl enhancement, but not much hold. I've read that it doesn't weigh hair down. It might be good topped with something else for hold. My hair doesn't get weighted down, so I'm just guessing.

+1 on homemade FSG (flaxseed gel). It dries with crunch, but you can smooth your hands over your hair and make it soft again. I often use it alone because a lot of hold doesn't seem to make a huge difference to me (nature always wins) and I'm not a fan of the crunchy look for my fine hair.
Aloe Vera Gel (not plain, but with other stuff added, I use Lily of the Desert Aloe 80) is not very expensive and light, curl enhancing and easy to de-crunch.

You might also like Kiss my Face Upper Management. Great price. It's a medium-hold "gel" made from humectants and moisturizers and it does a lot for the wave pattern. Not much hold, though. A good one to mix with just a dab of gel or maybe even mousse. MIxed with FSG it is is a match made in heaven for those of us who don't like crunch in the end result. If you just water-wash after using that mixture, you almost don't need conditioner.

Just want to add (I do a lot of research, I work in science) that whenever you need to research a health-related subject and want the hard facts, go to PubMed home and type in what you're looking for. You get direct access to research, although you'd have to have a library get the full articles for you, you can read the article summaries (abstracts) online for free. A good supplement to whatever else is online. Inflammatory diseases are the pits (I have some) and there are some not-conventional-medicine things that you can find on PubMed which have made it through double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. I even heard about people getting Ulcerative Colitis into remission by using intestinal parasites (worms). Seems we evolved with all kinds of yuck and bugs and they actually make us stronger. Worm Eggs May Heal Ulcerative Colitis - Digestion and Digestive-Related Information on MedicineNet.com
We science-y people just love new ideas. Just like hair-people!